If people had no or less freedom of speech would the freedom of thought be put to more use?

Question

Quotes Kierkegaard: "People demand freedom of speech to make up for the freedom of thought which they avoid."

So if freedom was less in speech, would thought be put to more usage?

Answer 1

I don't think Kierkegaard appreciated the importance of freedom of speech as much as he would if his writings had been suppressed. And the lack of suppression, that he enjoyed, is a result of the freedom of speech, not just from some superior thought.

Speech is a commitment of thought. If there is only thought, each commitment is lost as one thought replaces another. With speech the thoughts stand and can be judged for their content.

Speech is public, thoughts are private. Only when we are public with speech and writing can we evaluate the value and use of a thought written down or spoken. If we don't have an open society with the freedom of speech and press, to discuss spoken or written thoughts, it is as if we were locked up in our own minds, prisoners of our selves, and that is madness. And the one thought that is allowed, no matter what errors it contains, can never be publicly contested or corrected. That produces corruption.

No doubt Kierkegaard thought many more wonderful thoughts than he wrote, as the mind is faster than the pen, but we will never know or value those thoughts because they were never spoken or written. What errors he perceived will never be corrected unless thought and spoken or written by another.

Kierkegaard was wrong to not attach more importance to the freedom of speech. Thought cannot be put to any use until it is shared and we depend on the freedom of speech and writing to share our thoughts.

Answer 2

Not quite. Being an existentialist philosopher Soren Kierkegaard was wont to make such a statement. Since individual freedom, existenz (spelling!!), entails angst as opposed to essence, collective freedom of Nietzsche's sheep-like majority, Kierkegaard is suggesting that people do not often want to face their freedom in anguish! Read Sartre's Being and Nothingness, Tillich, Camus, HeiDEgger, de Beauvoir and other existential philosophers for more tid-bits.

Answer 3

Without the freedom to communicate those thoughts then how would we ever know if "thought" had increased?

Also, would you really rather live under an oppressive dictatorship because you think it might make people smarter?

I see no evidence that that would even work. How many scientific breakthroughs came from the Soviet Union? How many new vaccines did They develop? Did they make it to the moon?

Kierkegaard's quote sounds like a bit of intellectual snobbery to me.

Answer 4

Good question, I've often wondered how my grandmother, and women of other eras thrived in restricted freedom of speech conditions. It's my observation that my grandmother's generation is very cerebral when it comes to getting there way with men. They are indirect and somewhat out of touch with the straight forward nature of the younger women these days. But oh are they affective in manipulation. I always thought it was a lack of character on their part but now I view it as highly intelligent alternative programing developed to sidestep the silence expected of them. One integral philosophy is that they need to be hyper sensitive to the egos of men because if the male ego is threatened there is very little hope to get ones desire fulfilled. Of course there are benefits to having open equal interactions such as I am able to have in this day and age, but there perhaps was a more focused logical and strategic approach with these crafty older women!

Answer 5

Not necessarily... but at least for some time, when a talkative person becomes silent, he would experience a greater unbridled activity in his mind.
"Thought being put to use" is a thing which is too much to ask ! Very few have good control over their thoughts to be able to "put " it to use consciously... usually it drives like a vehicle without any steering control !
Those who speak weighing their words well, will any way be putting their thoughts to proper use, and basically, thought does not require much time, it flashes an idea which may require hours to be 'spoken' out !

Answer 6

One's thought is still hidden from others when it is not still manifested in actions or in words. To expose one's thought, one needs to show it off, if not, then it will only be thrown to oblivion. From the given premises, having no freedom of speech, purposely, the freedom of thought becomes inutile. But, in terms of human's nature, who is the man who could stop another man to think or to have a thought while he is in the state of consciousness? that would be impossible!

Answer 7

They are both interconnected, the one foot can not always carry the other they need a balance.

Answer 8

yes, to question the believes and to use different strategies in solving the problem.